My analysis of the final scene of the Sopranos, thus the entire show itself, and how it relates to Buddhism, quantum physics, all in a nutshell, or should I say bell?

Introduction:

Even though we have probably done this a million times, for my own sake maybe but if not for the enjoyment and expansion of others already amazing analysis and explanations. I pay respect and homage to all the work and observations others have made. This is my own attempt to analyze this last scene, but in doing so, it opens up the can of worms that is the entire show itself, as I will try to show, and as undoubtedly others have shown already here before. Im not trying to claim anything new is being discovered, just adding my own final synthesis of ideas after this most recent rewatch of the entire show. This final scene has a very religious Last Supper feeling even though Chase and Co initially tried to say that there wasn't any deep meaning, but we know there really is, he's just being humble about it and allowing the mystery to exist, which is the mark of a good artist. I have now a theory that i have yet to test though. I have this theory that from maybe as early as season 5 that Tony already died and or is dreaming a majority of the stuff we see. I have yet to test it, but for some reason the final scene alludes to this for me. I definitely think there is more to the peyote sequence than I had originally noticed. It kind of made me aware that maybe more scenes were dreams than I noticed. One thing I did notice and its dramatically different. The first 4 seasons were definitely filmed using a different technique because the last 2\3 seasons were filmed in a very dream like veneer, almost David Lynch like. I also think that Chase deliberately filmed the last scene packed with so much in it because of the DVD age we are in that allows us to comb over every little detail we see in movies. The DVD era has been a theme even discussed in dialogue on the show. Anyway, without further ado, please"Bear with me."....First, one thing to mention before we begin. In season six we see the emphasis of "bells" sprinkled throughout. Since we know that this show has a sort of Buddhist subtext as well, its safe to say that it has the buddhist meaning of bells infused into it. Bells are used in buddhism not only for meditation but to signify or bring about change in conciousness, or energy, similar to the guy who works at BELL(!!!) labs tells Tony.

Getting the drift here? ok Good but in case not heres more. For example, the song about “all the chapel bells were ringing” played earlier, the boat dock in “Soprano home movies” rang almost exactly the same tone as the one as the door in the diner, a bell rang as Paulie hit the young Barone guy in the knee, a bell rang as Tony was first wheeled out of the hospital etc. So its no mistake that in the diner there is a "bell" that rings each time some one walks in. The bell in other scenes has been connected to significant events that were happening in the plot lines. We will be revisiting this significance throughout this analysis. As Tony walks into a diner the song lyric "All that you dream" is heard clearly as you see Two Tonys, him and his reflection on the door.

BELL RINGS FIRST TIME

He then sits in a booth that behind him has huge "varsity style athletes" and a New Jersey High School building, just like the one the coach is in the basement of in "test dream". State Champions 1973 is seen. 1973 evoking the time period Tony would've been struggling to be a "varsity athlete". This is not a random placement as has been discussed. ITs purpose is obviously to evoke the whole coach\varsity athlete thing. Also how when he walks in the strange camera sequence where Tony is looking at himself. Its obvious that Chase is attempting to do at least this with that one particular sequence. Place Tony in the room in relationship to where MOJ (members only jacket) guy eventually goes to the bathroom as to orient him in the location where the blind spot would be, much like the way we see Phil get clipped, from the same direction, a blind spot on the camera. Tony sits at the Booth by himself, not his favorite thing to be as we have seen on the show. He predictably starts to get bored and flips though the old style personal jukeboxes at the table. The song lists that ensue are like a virtual goldmine of words that resonate to storyline plotlessness through out the show. We hear the lyric played very clearly over the scene as he looks at the song list "Into your life.." and thats exactly what the song list does. It takes us on a metaphorical look into HIS life.

The first song of not thats visible is not one song but two songs together one above the other forming the statement "Somewhere in the night" and "My baby drives a Buick". This being resonating with the cars that we see gangsters driving in the old days, buick style cars. And we know what those cars do "somewhere in the night" if you know what Im saying... The next pairing of songs making a phrase we see is "Those were the days" with "Turn Turn Turn" making another interesting statement . As if to say this final scene is the Turn Turn Turn of the page. Then we see the next pairing of words statement "Only the strong survive" with "Because I love you." Which resonates to how Tony only survives really because of Carmela and Meadows love for him, metaphorically and literally in some cases as we have been shown earlier in this season especially. But ironically right below that we see one last visible song title showing a the sense of humor of the whole show "victim of love" is the only other visible song. The next songfest pairings we see as Tony "Turns Turns Turns"i s "Ive gotta be me" with "A Lonely Place" as if to say Tony's constant need to just "be me" has finally left him as usual, in "a Lonely place" at the end of his life. The next songs we see paired together are "This magic moment" with "Since I don't have you". The first song being one that was used to end "sopranos home movies" as Baccala comes home after clipping the guy in Canada. Evoking that idea of "this magic moment" being death but also life. But the pairing of that with "Since I don't have you" makes you think of the loss his family will experience after "this magic moment". The next song pairing we see is "crystal blue persuasion" with and interesting "I'm Alive" song title. This evokes to me the image of neon lights of blue that are always in places of persuasion for Tony. The second title being a poke at the death\life idea of whether we the audience will see this as him dying or living. The last visible title is again solo saying "June night" resonating of course with "uncle june" as he was so often called. The next shot is a waitress getting the order of the table behind Tony, its the same waitress who is later walking behind Tony as Meadow rushes into the diner. The next shot is in the kitchen where we see guys flipping burgers. We return back to Tony flipping through he songs. This time the camera goes in close as if to let us know the titles of the songs ARE significant indeed in case there was any doubt. BELL RINGS Second timeA young "Janice" look alike walks in right as he flips through the songs "who you gonna run to" and "magic man" by HEART fitting right into the last conversation he had with her. About "I need to find another" magic man to run to. Tony then flips the song and we see the song titles "Magic man (live)" "Don't stop believing." "Anyway you want it." So picking that apart, first we have the words "magic man" appearing again but this time the word (live) is more visible. Maybe meaning the "magic man" is the one that lives on after you? "don't stop believing" of course is the song he eventually ends up choosing. "Any way you want it." could mean two things. Us the audience can have it "any way you want it" OR it resonates to Tonys need to always have it anyway HE "wants it". Next, just in case we missed it, the camera once again zooms in on song titles "Rock it Billy" "I've Gotta be me" and "A Lonely Place" as if to further drive the symbolism of the titles home in the viewer. Camera turns back onto Tony looking up towards the doors as the,BELL RINGS Third timeMan walks in wearing a outfit resonating with the Scantino bustout. Outdoor gear and a “USA” hat, all kind of reminiscent of the goods they plundered towards the end of that era of the show way back when. Tony doesn’t see him as any threat as he goes ahead and puts the money in the jukebox to select the song “Don’t stop believing.” As the song starts

BELL RINGS fourth timeStopping right here for a moment to explain that we now will switch to pairing the actual lyrics of this song to the images to actual themes throughout the show itself. This is important, and was done previously in the very initial scene that starts Season 6 with the William Burroughs songs about the souls. This last scene is done in a very similar way albeit in a much quicker pace.

In walks Carmela. She sees Tony and smiling at him, walks towards the booth. Tony looks relieved yet stressed, like he’s trying to hide how stressed he really is from Carmela. A theme throughout once again. The camera goes to the young couple in the booth, who resemble a younger version of Carmela and Tony in their high school days.

We then see a table with what appears to be 3 Cub scouts.

Cub being a resonator back to the whole “Bear” idea. The “cub” leader has a slight resemblance to Phil. We hear the first lyric of the song “just a small town girl” as Carmela takes her coat off. We’ve gotten the feeling a few times through out the show that Carmela was indeed more of a “small town girl” so the lyric is perfect. Tony greet her with a tense “Hey." which gets a tense “Hey.” in response. She smiles but it appears strained as the lyric “Living in a lonely world” is heard. This is so true for Carmela, she has surely been one of the loneliest characters in the entire show. She lets out a deep sigh as if in duress as the camera turns to Tony. The lyric “He took the midnight train going anywhere.” is heard as he sighs in response as if they are both acknowledging the tension. She picks up her menu looking it over as if to pretend theirs not “ a five hundred ton elephant hanging over them”.Camera turns back to Tony as the lyric “Just a city boy.” Carmela says “What looks good tonight?” as if subconsciously admitting how everything else looks so bad in comparison. She shifts nervously in her booth, noticeably, as if on edge more than usual. Camera turns back onto Tony saying “Eh, I don’t know.” acting apathetic and distracted. Even though they are in a Burger joint with a very limited menu. So this a deliberate reenactment of many of previous conversations throughout the show between Tony and Carmela. This is a encapsulation if you will, of their whole dilemma. Tonys always distracted, Carmelas always asking questions that never get answered. Tony sniffs too, as a further dismissal of the tension. A tick almost he has had through out the show in moments like this. Tony asks her “Wheres Gagootz?” as the camera shows them both looking over the menu. Carmela answers “He just called, he’s on his way.” Tony nods as Camela then adds “Meds coming separately because she had to go to the Dr. Switch birth control.” This makes Tony look visibly more uncomfortable to hear as he puts his tongue into his cheek looking down. Next it cuts to the USA hat guy seated getting his coffee with 3 creamers.

We see he’s reading a paper, or maybe just pretending to, like Carmela and Tony pretending to read the menu. He pours sugar into the coffee. The camera returns to Tony and Carmela still looking at the menus. Carmela looks up and asks, “Did you talk to Mink again?” Mink being the attorney but almost feels like a wink back to her mink coat as well. As she asks Tony the question, her heavy breathing clearly shows she is very stressed out. Tony, feeling stressed replies sadly, “its Carlo. He’s gonna testify.” We see the fear in Carmelas eyes ever present and potent. She slightly shakes her head in disapproval. The lyric captures the frustration they feel as it sings "It goes on and on and on and on"BELL RINGS Fifth timeThis is the end of Part One of this analysis

[font="Franklin Gothic Medium"]You know, Vito called me “skip” the other day. Slip of the tongue, no doubt. But I noticed he didn’t correct himself.[/font][SIZE="1"][/SIZE]

Tony heres the bell and looks up again at the door. The very next camera shot is of MOJ guy entering the diner. Pause here for a moment. These two scenes are butted up to each other for a purpose. I feel like this resonates to the theme presented throughout the show about how it would end. Either going to jail or getting clipped. Carlo being Jail, MOJ guy being clipped. As he enters the song says, "Strangers waiting..." and the whole diner we see, feels like its full of strangers waiting, amazing timing on the film work as per usual. AJ walks in directly behind him, almost blocked out by MOJ guys body. As they separate the lyric “up and down the boulevard” plays as AJ walks to the booth to sit down next to Carmela. The next lyric we here is “their shadows waiting in the night” as almost to refer to AJ showing the MOJ guy as they walked in together. AJ sits down and says “mmm onion rings.” To which Tony replies in a Godfather-esque way “The Best in the state as far as Im concerned.” The Godfather references once again a theme sprinkled throughout the show. Tony flips the menu. The lyrics “Streetlight people, Living just to find emotion hiding somewhere int the night.” play as we see MOJ again, this time looking over at the booth where Tony and Co are sitting, tapping his fingers on the counter of the bar,as if he was nervous or tense about something. Next we see as scene of meadow trying to park her car. I caught a Phil hit parallel I hadn’t noticed with this sequence before. When she first backs up she rolls over the curb slightly, evoking the resonance of Phils head getting rolled over. "Working hard to get my fill” is then the next line in the song we hear. As she parks, the waitress brings Tony and Co their FILLed drinks. But It also has a funny parallel phonic meaning. Working hard to get my PHIL. Which we just saw the crew earlier "working hard to get their PHIL."
The next line in the song as we see a young couple evoking a younger version of Tony and Carmela is "everybody wants a thrill." as if to represent a time when Tony and Carmela had more of a thrill. The song then says "paying anything to roll the dice just one more time" as we see Tony and then back to Carmela asking "How was work today?" which is a question asked so many times throughout the show from Carmela to Tony. At first the camera kinda tricks you into thinking she's asking Tony that question again but you suddenly realize she's asking AJ. The lyrics synched meaning seems to be about we the audience would pay anything, but I also think meaning Tony would pay anything. And its and interesting allusion back to gambling and the casino scene we saw back a couple episode involving the roulette table, it kinda of resonates on that theme and also the conversations with the guy from Bell labs with cancer in the hospital. The principles of the Universe. SO in a sense one could say AJ actually represents Tony actually getting to "roll the dice just one more time" on a another level. "some will win some will lose" plays as AJ answers " all I'm doing is getting coffee and placing endless phone calls" to which Carmela answers "You may not realize it but you are making CONTACTS" as the lyric plays "some will have to sing the blues" and Tony says "It's an ENTRY level job, so BUCK up." Emphasis added for the purpose of looking for themes that are double meaning, or metadata. Contacts and Entry level, resonate for me back to themes explored in the Finnerty Coma dream. Buck up obviously has two meaning in this show. One meaning Money the other meaning "time to grow up" which is something Tony has been struggling with more than anyone else throughout the whole show. "Though the movie never ends it goes on and on..." plays as AJ says "Right, focus on the good times." which is the line Tony says in the last episode of season one as the toast at Artie Buccos looping back to where the movie starts so in effect it "goes on and on.." and it goes on and on with AJ being the SON\SUN next generation. Since earlier in the show the themes of Buddhism have been evoked and consistently resonated, its safe to assume that one of Buddhism's biggest beliefs is in reincarnation. So we know this isn't just some coincidence, theres a whole framework that has built up to this point and this final scene practically encapsulates the entire series. But let me continue here with the song line synchs. Tony responds "Don't be sarcastic." even though he wasn't being sarcastic, although it clues us into the fact that Tony himself expects sarcasm from AJ when actually he is showing a sincerity, showing us he has been capable of growth more than Tony throughout the show, even with the botched suicide. AJ experienced a measurable amount of growth, comparable to Tony and Tonys father, there can be no doubt. Although he has his own mental issues, Sociopathy is not one it seems. He has hence broken the Soprano curse which I think was metaphorically shown when the cart in Albelino\AJS car off the side of the road explosion happened. It was a moment of breaking the chain on some levels, a burning pyre breaking AJ free from the fate of becoming as bad a person as his father and grandfather. Theres something better in store for AJ, after all the bad times, even after his Dads brains get blown out, eventually he's on course for a different path, one not as a gangster or a thug or more importantly, a sociopath. SO back to the dialogue synch. "Strangers waiting, going up the boulevard" plays as AJ says "Isn't that what you said one time? 'Try to remember the times that were good.'?" to which Tony reply "I did?" as if he was a stranger to himself, as if he had forgotten this core truth that he once championed so loudly, yet of all values Tony could pass on throughout the show to AJ, it appears in this statement that this is the one that stuck more than any other. He reminds Tony as he says"Yeah." in response kinda half confused how Tony forgot. "well its true I guess." Tony says, comically agreeing with himself and still acting as if he never heard this before. Carmela makes "those eyes" at him as if to silently say, "what the fuck Tony? You don't remember saying that?" while also releasing in the fact AJ is a much better man on so many levels already than Tony could ever be. "There shadows searching in the night.." plays as AJ and Carmela sort of have the same reaction to Tonys strange inability to recall what he once said. Its almost as if we are witnessing the metaphorical transfer of the patriarchal line to AJ, but one where some things have been corrected and changed. For instance AJ already being in therapy to treat the issues earlier in life, this gives him such a better chance at growing up to not become a sociopath like his father grandfather and Uncle Jr. Cut to scene of meadow trying to back into the parking spot. Big metaphor here, as she's always kind of been the black sheep of the show, unable to find a way to "fit in". In other words she was not into the denial thing that her mother clearly was. So again even on Carmela's side of the story, we see growth in Meadow in ways Carmela never had a chance. Meadow might marry a "connected" guy but will never be in the same fashion as Carmela. We see her wanting more of a equal partnership in the situation. SO again another example of quantifiable growth, not from Carmela and Tony per se but through their children. Let me continue. "Streetlight people, walking down the boulevard" plays as she continues to struggle parking the car on "the boulevard" and acting as if there is some hurry. "Livin' just to find emotion, Hidin' somewhere in the night" Plays as MOJ guy is once again caught looking at Tony while he gets up after pretending like he was ordering something, which he clearly never orders anything, yet still heads to the bathroom as Tony looks at him get up and head towards him. As he walks by the camera pans in such a way that sets up what we as the audience would expect the angle of a final shot would be if there was one. A similar angle we saw with Phil I might add. Tony watches him the whole time he's walking by just to make sure we the viewer see it. So taking the lyric and synching it to MOJ guy resonates on the level that assuming its linked to the other character earlier we saw being pointed out as wearing the MOJ, Eugene, we see that his family or ex-wife would have major cause and emotion for targeting Tony. The motive their is obvious and made even more obvious by her stating her self in the episode titled "Members Only" "Why don't you just blow his fucking head off already?" With Phil out of the picture and everyone else scrambling to fill power vacuums (resonating with what the Dell guy said about blackholes) Tony out of the picture would surely serve New York AND Eugenes widows interest. SO its totally plausible to think that theres some connection. So the emotion that is "hiding in the night" is the anger and revenge that people want on Tony coming full circle like an Onion ring. So then cue the guitar solo which then has two african american guys walking in which resonates back to "Unidentified black males" and the original hit on Tony that JR put on him. It seems Chase is purposefully evoking that here as if to taunt us as the viewer as who in the room was about to pop Tony, because some "stranger hiding in the night" was about to do just that. Tony looks up at them as the "bell tolls" just like the song about "little Johnny" in the beginning of season six. Then we see Meadow finally able to park her car as the Onion rings are brought to the table. Tony says "I went ahead and ordered some for the table." as the three of them minus Meadow all synchronized one after another starting with Carmela put an onion ring in their mouth, Carmela doing it very much reminiscent of her scene taking Communion back in season one, and AJ doing it in a very similar fashion. Tony eats his sort like how he has eaten everything in the show, gobbles it right down with out quite the same grace as the other 2. "Don't stop believing" plays behind them as they eat them. The scene the cuts to Meadow getting out of her Car and running in as if to warn her dad about something, as if maybe she knew the hit was about to go down because of her connection to Patsy\Parisi family. Maybe she was running in like that to warn her dad, because her expression is of someone scared or upset. Her body language as she runs across the street reminds one of the scene at the funeral where meadow gets drunk and throws stuff at JR as he sings. Then gets chased out by Tony as she almost gets hit by cars, as she dashes out across traffic. Its a very similar shot. Its intentionally similar. She's in a hurry, she has to warn Tony. Remember in the beginning of the Season 6 song, she's identified as his guardian angel. Her she is, running to warn Tony, but because she couldn't park her car quick enough she is too late. The bell rings as she enters, Tony looks up, and black..... as the lyrics "don't stop" play, the word "stop" almost echos in your mind due to the abrupt stopping of the song, like a phantom in your mind, its a very cool effect. So to me, this whole last diner scene, is like the Sopranos version of "The Last Supper" as we see resonators of the shows most important story arcs represented in every little excruciating detail down to the pictures on the wall. It doesn't hurt my theory here that the entire cast of the show shot a "Last Supper" type shot promo for the Season 6. The themes are there. So to me Chase is right when he asserts "It's all there." Tony got whacked, and Meadow was a second too late this time to save him. She saved him once early on, we saw that, how she led him away from death in the Coma and back to life\reality. But this time, even though she was desperately trying to get there in time, she couldn't save him this time. He "never saw it coming”. But “Its all there." "I get it!"

[font="Franklin Gothic Medium"]You know, Vito called me “skip” the other day. Slip of the tongue, no doubt. But I noticed he didn’t correct himself.[/font][SIZE="1"][/SIZE]

Tony hears the bell and looks up again at the door. The very next camera shot is of MOJ guy entering the diner. Pause here for a moment. These two scenes are butted up to each other for a purpose. I feel like this resonates to the theme presented throughout the show about how it would end. Either going to jail or getting clipped. Carlo being Jail, MOJ guy being clipped. As MOJ guy enters the song says, "Strangers waiting..." and the whole diner we see, feels like its full of strangers waiting, amazing timing on the film work as per usual. AJ walks in directly behind him, almost blocked out by MOJ guys body. As MOJ guy and AJ separate the lyric “up and down the boulevard” plays as AJ walks to the booth to sit down next to Carmela. The next lyric we here is “their shadows waiting in the night” as almost to refer to AJ showing the MOJ guy as they walked in together. AJ sits down and says “mmm onion rings.” To which Tony replies in a Godfather-esque way “The Best in the state as far as Im concerned.” The Godfather references once again a theme sprinkled throughout the show. Tony flips the menu.

The lyrics “Streetlight people, Living just to find emotion hiding somewhere in the night.” play as we see MOJ again, this time looking over at the booth where Tony and Co are sitting, tapping his fingers on the counter of the bar,as if he was nervous or tense about something. Next we see as scene of meadow trying to park her car. I caught a Phil hit parallel I hadn’t noticed with this sequence before. When she first backs up she rolls over the curb slightly, evoking the resonance of Phils head getting rolled over. "Working hard to get my fill” is then the next line in the song we hear. As she parks, the waitress brings Tony and Co their FILLed drinks. But It also has a funny parallel phonic meaning. Working hard to get my PHIL. Which we just saw the crew earlier "working hard to get their PHIL." The next line in the song as we see a young couple evoking a younger version of Tony and Carmela is "everybody wants a thrill." as if to represent a time when Tony and Carmela had more of a thrill. The song then says "paying anything to roll the dice just one more time" as we see Tony and then back to Carmela asking "How was work today?" which is a question asked so many times throughout the show from Carmela to Tony. At first the camera kinda tricks you into thinking she's asking Tony that question again but you suddenly realize she's asking AJ. The lyrics synched meaning seems to be about we the audience would pay anything, but I also think meaning Tony would pay anything. And its and interesting allusion back to gambling and the casino scene we saw back a couple episode involving the roulette table, it kinda of resonates on that theme and also the conversations with the guy from Bell labs with cancer in the hospital. The principles of the Universe. Rolling the dice. SO in a sense one could say AJ actually represents Tony actually getting to "roll the dice just one more time" on a another level. "Some will win some will lose" plays as AJ answers " all I'm doing is getting coffee and placing endless phone calls" to which Carmela answers "You may not realize it but you are making CONTACTS" as the lyric plays "some will have to sing the blues" and Tony says "It's an ENTRY level job, so BUCK up." Emphasis added for the purpose of looking for themes that are double meaning, or metadata. Contacts and Entry level, resonate for me back to themes explored in the Finnerty Coma dream. Buck up obviously has two meaning in this show. One meaning Money the other meaning "time to grow up" which is something Tony has been struggling with more than anyone else throughout the whole show.

"Though the movie never ends it goes on and on..." plays as AJ says "Right, focus on the good times." which is the line Tony says in the last episode of season one as the toast at Artie Buccos looping back to where the movie starts so in effect it "goes on and on.." and it goes on and on with AJ being the SON\SUN next generation. Since earlier in the show the themes of Buddhism have been evoked and consistently resonated, its safe to assume that one of Buddhism's biggest beliefs is in reincarnation. So we know this isn't just some coincidence, theres a whole framework that has built up to this point and this final scene practically encapsulates the entire series. But let me continue here with the song line synchs. Tony responds "Don't be sarcastic." even though he wasn't being sarcastic, although it clues us into the fact that Tony himself expects sarcasm from AJ when actually he is showing a sincerity, showing us he has been capable of growth more than Tony throughout the show, even with the botched suicide. AJ experienced a measurable amount of growth, comparable to Tony and Tonys father, there can be no doubt. Although he has his own mental issues, Sociopathy is not one it seems. He has hence broken the Soprano curse which I think was metaphorically shown when the cart in Albelino\AJS car off the side of the road explosion happened. It was a moment of breaking the chain on some levels, a burning pyre breaking AJ free from the fate of becoming as bad a person as his father and grandfather. Theres something better in store for AJ, after all the bad times, even after his Dads brains get blown out, eventually he's on course for a different path, one not as a gangster or a thug or more importantly, a sociopath. SO back to the dialogue synch. "Strangers waiting, going up the boulevard" plays as AJ says "Isn't that what you said one time? 'Try to remember the times that were good.'?" to which Tony reply "I did?" as if he was a stranger to himself, as if he had forgotten this core truth that he once championed so loudly, yet of all values Tony could pass on throughout the show to AJ, it appears in this statement that this is the one that stuck more than any other. He reminds Tony as he says"Yeah." in response kinda half confused how Tony forgot. "well its true I guess." Tony says, comically agreeing with himself and still acting as if he never heard this before. Carmela makes "those eyes" at him as if to silently say, "what the fuck Tony? You don't remember saying that?" while also releasing in the fact AJ is a much better man on so many levels already than Tony could ever be. "There shadows searching in the night.." plays as AJ and Carmela sort of have the same reaction to Tonys strange inability to recall what he once said. Its almost as if we are witnessing the metaphorical transfer of the patriarchal line to AJ, but one where some things have been corrected and changed. For instance AJ already being in therapy to treat the issues earlier in life, this gives him such a better chance at growing up to not become a sociopath like his father grandfather and Uncle Jr. Cut to scene of meadow trying to back into the parking spot. Big metaphor here, as she's always kind of been the black sheep of the show, unable to find a way to "fit in". In other words she was not into the denial thing that her mother clearly was. So again even on Carmela's side of the story, we see growth in Meadow in ways Carmela never had a chance. Meadow might marry a "connected" guy but will never be in the same fashion as Carmela. We see her wanting more of a equal partnership in the situation. SO again another example of quantifiable growth, not from Carmela and Tony per se but through their children. Let me continue. "Streetlight people, walking down the boulevard" plays as she continues to struggle parking the car on "the boulevard" and acting as if there is some hurry. "Livin' just to find emotion, Hidin' somewhere in the night" Plays as MOJ guy is once again caught looking at Tony while he gets up after pretending like he was ordering something, which he clearly never orders anything, yet still heads to the bathroom as Tony looks at him get up and head towards him.

As he walks by the camera pans in such a way that sets up what we as the audience would expect the angle of a final shot would be if there was one. A similar angle we saw with Phil I might add. Tony watches him the whole time he's walking by just to make sure we the viewer see it. So taking the lyric and synching it to MOJ guy resonates on the level that assuming its linked to the other character earlier we saw being pointed out as wearing the MOJ, Eugene, we see that his family or ex-wife would have major cause and emotion for targeting Tony. The motive their is obvious and made even more obvious by her stating her self in the episode titled "Members Only" "Why don't you just blow his fucking head off already?" With Phil out of the picture and everyone else scrambling to fill power vacuums (resonating with what the Dell guy said about blackholes) Tony out of the picture would surely serve New York AND Eugenes widows interest. SO its totally plausible to think that theres some connection. So the emotion that is "hiding in the night" is the anger and revenge that people want on Tony coming full circle like an Onion ring.BELL RINGS 6th time

So then cue the guitar solo which then has two african american guys walking in which resonates back to "Unidentified black males" and the original hit on Tony that JR put on him. It seems Chase is purposefully evoking that here as if to taunt us as the viewer as who in the room was about to pop Tony, because some "stranger hiding in the night" was about to do just that. Tony looks up at them as the "bell tolls" just like the song about "little Johnny" in the beginning of season six. Then we see Meadow finally able to park her car as the Onion rings are brought to the table.

Tony says "I went ahead and ordered some for the table." as the three of them minus Meadow all synchronized one after another starting with Carmela put an onion ring in their mouth, Carmela doing it very much reminiscent of her scene taking Communion back in season one, and AJ doing it in a very similar fashion.

Tony eats his sort like how he has eaten everything in the show, gobbles it right down with out quite the same grace as the other 2. "Don't stop believing" plays behind them as they eat them. The scene the cuts to Meadow getting out of her Car and running in as if to warn her dad about something, as if maybe she knew the hit was about to go down because of her connection to Patsy\Parisi family. Maybe she was running in like that to warn her dad, because her expression is of someone scared or upset. Her body language as she runs across the street reminds one of the scene at the funeral where meadow gets drunk and throws stuff at JR as he sings. Then gets chased out by Tony as she almost gets hit by cars, as she dashes out across traffic. Its a very similar shot. Its intentionally similar. She's in a hurry, she has to warn Tony. Remember in the beginning of the Season 6 song, she's identified as his guardian angel. Here she is running to warn Tony, but because she couldn't park her car quick enough, she is too late to stop the inevitable. BELL RINGS seventh time

Seven has a significance in Buddhism as well as in Dantes Inferno in relation ship to reincarnation\death\purgatory\afterlife. As she enters, Tony looks up, and then the famous “cut to black"..... as the lyrics "don't stop" play, the word "stop" almost echos in your mind due to the abrupt stopping of the song, like a phantom in your mind, its a very cool effect. So to me, this whole last diner scene, is like the Sopranos version of "The Last Supper" as we see resonators of the shows most important story arcs represented in every little excruciating detail down to the pictures on the wall. It doesn't hurt my theory here that the entire cast of the show shot a "Last Supper" type shot promo for the Season 6. The themes are there. So to me Chase is right when he asserts "It's all there." Tony got whacked, and Meadow was a second too late this time to save him. She saved him once early on, we saw that, how she led him away from death in the Coma and back to life\reality. But this time, even though she was desperately trying to get there in time, she couldn't save him this time. He "never saw it coming”. But “Its all there." "I get it!"

[font="Franklin Gothic Medium"]You know, Vito called me “skip” the other day. Slip of the tongue, no doubt. But I noticed he didn’t correct himself.[/font][SIZE="1"][/SIZE]

Brilliant analysis Sil. Lot of brilliant points here. Never heard the interpretation that Meadow was trying to warn Tony but it seems to make sense. Her facial expression is not that of a happy person. It's obvious and a inclination of David Chase's genius that the ending scene will be discussed, debated and argued for lots of years to come. The final scene will go alongside the likes of Kubrick and Lynch and I hope in the future The Sopranos will be analysed and debated like the modern Shakespeare it is.

"I use the technique of positive visualization. How come I always feel undermined?"

Thanks! Stay tuned as there is more to come. I intend on expanding further on the Buddhist\dante\quantum physics angle to all of this in this thread. Im just now realizing theres a lot to be said underneath very much similar to Kubrick. I plan on showing everyone just how much there is. Stay tuned.....

[font="Franklin Gothic Medium"]You know, Vito called me “skip” the other day. Slip of the tongue, no doubt. But I noticed he didn’t correct himself.[/font][SIZE="1"][/SIZE]